Interviews & Media

“A little over 100 years ago, in February of 1914, the industrialist Andrew Carnegie started an organization whose goal is was to put an end to war forever through rational principles of international law. Reality check: World War I began just six months later.“

RAHIM KANANI: As you observe U.S. foreign policy in the context of the recent and continued uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, his ethical argument how would you assess the Obama Administration’s current posture towards the crises?

JOEL ROSENTHAL: For an administration that came to power promising a new posture of “engagement,” the recent crises offer an opportunity that President Obama could have barely imagined when he went to Cairo in 2009.

Transcript of an interview with The Current, Columbia University’s undergraduate journal of contemporary politics, culture, and Jewish affairs.

THE CURRENT: What does it mean for the Carnegie Council to be “the voice for ethics in international policy”?

JOEL ROSENTHAL: This organization is unique in trying to link the concept of ethics to public policy at the international level. We’re traditional in our approach. We start with Socrates and the question of how should one live, the “ought” question—what is the ideal?